EA: We will die without new IP

Executive Patrick Soderlund claims developing new franchises is lifeblood of publisher, says he may walk away from industry if new IP creation stops.

Electronic Arts has drawn criticism for relying too heavily on its existing franchises, but according to EA Games executive Patrick Soderlund, new IP is the lifeblood of the company. New IP is integral to EA being successful, Soderlund says.

"There’s nothing that we’ve announced, but we are absolutely working all the time on new IPs," Soderlund told MCV. "To me, the day we stop doing new IP is the day we put ourselves on life support and then we’re slowly going to die."

"It’s not only needed for the industry and for the consumers, but it’s also needed for the creatives. They need something different to think about. They have a lot of creativity built into them that they need to get out," he continued. "The day that we stop thinking about new things that are not Need for Speed is the day that I’ll probably leave the games industry."

Gibeau also claimed EA has one of the best track records for new IP among its competitors, saying at the time, "It's an entertainment business. You have to surprise people and you have to take risks. If you don't, you die."

The reason why EA is dying and hopefully it will continue to die, is because EA expands not by actual growth, but by acquisition, they acquire game companies and add their networth to their own to create the perception of growth (how the FTC has not come down on them like a ton of bricks, I will never know.) But basically EA's troubles are not just because they have no new IP, it's also because the gamers have essentially create the atmosphere that if a game developer merges with is that developer will be persona non grata by the gaming community, and as such more developers, I personally know of a few that have heard offers from EA, have essentially told them to take a hike, even though in some cases EA offered a hell of alot of money.

So it seems that, developers are learning to not be lured in by the want and love of money. which is good. EA creates nothing and produces garbage, So long as they are not able to find another victim IP, the vampire that is EA will linger for a while but ultimately die a spectacular death. the end result will be that EA will have to sell off it's gaming studios to make ends meet, and ostensibly freeing them from the chains of bondage, and eventually, and hopefully, EA will die as a company, and that those responsible for creating this situation will be blackballed from the industry, thus and hopefully preventing a reinfection later under a different guise.

I'd like to thank EA for keeping great games alive with the Mass Effect series, Dragon Age, Rock Band, Madden and dozens of other awesome titles. Hopefully they can keep the same greatness going into the next generation of consoles with even more new titles.

EA just die. Please. When BF3 becomes obsolete then I guess we are all out that extra $50 of dlc then huh? Idiots couldn't even include basic bots to play locally. Oh but that's right. You want other people to pay out more to set up their own game. Then you want a code to input to even access the multiplayer. Go **** yourselves EA.

It's not too late EA. The entertainment industry PERIOD needs new IPs. After working in film for the last few years, our best "sleeper" hits have been entirely new IPs. It's not hard to do EA, you have the funds; invest and stop milking franchises to the bone!

As soon as money is involved people start getting angry. Just because you paid money for something doesn't mean that people should just bow down on their hands and knees and praise you. You get what you pay for, and if you don't, something is wrong - chances are it's actually you making the mistake, squandering your 'precious' cash on something you perhaps didn't want in the first place.

The internet never considers the effort that goes into setting up a company like EA and Activision have gone through to become sucessful. Sure, they're not heros or anything, but you wanted games and they are delivering.

They are dying without new teets to milk dry. They are running dry! Think Mass Effect, The Old Republic, Sports franchises, Dead Space, Dragon Age, etc. They are running dry since fans are realizing they are garbage in the hands of EA.

Oh yeah and don't forget to make them all trilogies but screw them up on the 3rd installment, so everyone forgets them quickly and you can be back to new IPs ASAP.

Seriously i can't believe how can anyone on EA believe the bullcrap they feed themselves, they are re-releasing the whole C&C saga when people can obtain the old games for free and most already have it on C&C The First Decade disc and yet they claim they can't live without new IPs? Please...

To be fair I don't think EA are too bad when it comes to not creating new IPs. They're just usually overshadowed by the vast number of annually released franchises. That said, I'd like to see them stop working on creating new IPs and actually create them.

@xDeadMarchx I never signed up to DLC, or constant remakes of NBA and FIFA. Yet they still appear on my games stores shelves. Take some advice from Jonny Walker and keep walking right on by those rehashed remakes.

@tsunami2311 they betrayed their own ideals by wich were beyond their formation as gamming company, so when they betray their own principles, how can we gamers trust them? maybe its time to die and perhaps reborn under a new management that respect the gamers.

@franzito true enough, i am seriously worried after seeing all the Deadspace 3 footage published, it just looks like any other generic 3rd person shooter, even the guy playing on the gameplay sequences was headshooting the necromorphs instead of dismembering them, that does not bode well :|

@HSV002 I payed 60$ for battlefield 3, haven't bought any DLC, and unlike capcom there has been no 'Super Battlefield 3'. I haven't endured the NBA or FIFA experience, but I'm sure that there is someone that wants updates to those games and enjoys collecting them as if they were DVDs or toys to go on their shelves. People like you and me are just going to buy one game and gtfo :P